In the Shadow of the Red Keep
by bluegoldrose
Summary: Danos and Daena are orphans living in King's Landing. This is the story of two commoners living in the shadow of the Red Keep, trying to survive the wars of the Kings and Queens. Will probably be a series of chapters around the events in the books and the possible future but from what the commoners see. Chapter 1: In the Dragonpit and a boyish girl whose clothes are too nice
1. Chapter 1

"Danos, where are you going," Daena asked her brother.

He rolled his eyes at her. "Up to the Dragonpit. We're trying to find dragon eggs." He continued up Rhaenys's Hill with some of the other kids they knew. She followed after them, not wanting to be alone in Flea Bottom.

"Mother always told us not to go there," she scolded, her short legs struggling to keep up with her older brother's long, quick strides.

His eyes hardened at her. "Mother is dead just like father. If I want to go explore the pit than I can."

Her eyes watered a bit, but she did not cry. Orphans of King's Landing did not cry. Daena was ten, her brother twelve. Their mother had been a dyer until a sickness killed her six months past. They were forced to sell everything they owned and now lived in a crowded poor house in Flea Bottom, far from the clean, airy part of King's Landing where they had been born. Their father had left when they were young, and there had been rumors that they had different fathers. Danos had thick black hair and bright blue eyes. Daena had thin blonde hair and brown eyes like their mother. It made no difference to the pair if the rumor were true or not, they were all each other had.

Their mother had raised and protected them, always watching out for them and telling them rules they had to follow. They always obeyed, even when she wasn't watching. They were convinced she had spies watching them when they were running about the city. One rule was to avoid the Street of Silk; another was to avoid the Dragonpit. Danos always wanted to explore the Dragonpit, and so did Daena.

Atop the hill, with black and red spires the ruinous Dragonpit loomed. There were never any city guards at the pit, but whores, smugglers, and street urchins like themselves were common enough. The air smelled sweeter the higher they climbed, until they were finally able to see the immense, crumbling structure. Daena turned and looked around the city. From where she stood it was beautiful. The Red Keep stood straight and fierce against the bright blue sky. The Sept of Baelor stood on the third hill of the city as pure as rain. Below them, Flea Bottom's sounds and smells drifted upward, but were pushed away by the wind.

When she turned around a man was observing her too closely and she ran to her brother's side. "How much is she," the man asked. He had yellow, crooked teeth, bad skin, and ragged clothes.

Danos pulled a knife. "_She_ is not for sale. Now move away before I sell you to the pot shops piece by piece." The man spat at them, but walked down the hill, away from them.

When the man was gone, Danos grabbed her hand firmly and squeezed. "I'll keep you safe." She gave him a weak smile, which he returned. "Come on, let's go find dragon eggs."

"Are you sure there are still dragon eggs?"

He shrugged. "Don't matter, come on, there's a hole in the wall we can crawl through."

The children walked half-way around the structure until they came to a hole a large dog could walk through comfortably. They crawled inside, one at a time, and emerged inside the ruins. Even in its run down condition the pit was an impressive structure. There were worn carvings in the walls. The floor was collapsed entirely in some places and rotted in others. Sunlight filtered through the missing chunks of ceiling. Daena was in awe.

In several dark corners of the pit's upper level there were men and women kissing and moaning. The children had no interest in the adults however, and climbed down the rickety ladders to the bottom of the pit. From the bottom, huge carvings of the Targaryen emblem were viewable.

The children spent hours climbing around in the ruins. Sadly, they found no dragon eggs. It was a little after noon when the children emerged. They had to go find pigeons, rats, or anything else to sell to the pot shops for food. Danos wanted to be a knight, and was planning to join the city watch when he turned sixteen. Daena had wanted to be a dyer like their mother, now she was unsure of what she would do for money. For now, all they could do was scavenge and barter like the rest of the orphans of King's Landing.

They were standing in line at their favorite of the shops when a boyish looking girl about her age entered the line behind them. She wore a cloak that was far too nice for a street urchin, even her clothing, though filthy was too nice. Her boots were the finest made things that Daena had seen since they left the dyers shops. Her brown hair was knotted and dirty, her grey eyes were lost and angry.

"Nice pigeon," she told the girl.

She eyed Daena suspiciously, and held her stick and pigeon in clenched hands. "Yeah, and it's mine."

Daena shrugged, her brother held their pigeons to trade, why would she want the girl's? "I know it. Just trying to be nice."

For a moment the girl looked like she wanted to talk, wanted to trust. "Being nice only kills you," she said eventually, her eyes steel. Daena gave up talking to her and waited quietly beside her brother for their meal.

The following day Daena saw the girl racing toward the Sept of Baelor when the bells rang out. Everyone was saying that the Hand of the King was going to testify there. People were saying it was something about treason and killing the old king Danos did not want to go, the Kings, Queens, and Hands did not care about the poor so why would he care about them? Instead, they returned to the Dragonpit to look for dragon eggs.

* * *

_A/N: I hope you liked this little story. I am considering continuing through the books from the perspectives of these common street kids during the wars._


	2. Chapter 2

The King and his Hand are always to blame, this Danos knows with certainty. Every day more people flood into the city. Every day food becomes more expensive and harder to find. Luckily a large rat nest was found in the Dragonpit. He takes three rats a day to the pot shops to feed himself and his sister. They are large, vicious rats, but that gives them enough food for a day. He remembers living with his mother at the dyer's shop and eating regularly, but those days are long gone. He would have gone north with the recruiter from the Night's Watch when he was in the city if it had not been for Daena. The Watch only takes men and boys, he had to protect his sister.

He considers himself lucky when he manages to find work at a stable. The job only pays a copper every two days, but he is fed daily for the work. He slips the bread he is given into his tunic and sneaks it to his sister who lurks in the shadows behind the stable. He knows that he needs to find work for her as well, but she is still a child. He is too tired from his long days in the stables to hunt rats across the city in the pit, but he knows that she sneaks up there alone some days to kill and sell rats. He worries that men will take her and sell her to the Street of Silk, but she promises to use her knife on anyone who tries to touch her.

This day she is still outside the stables. Normally she hides in a crawl space between the houses, but today she is speaking with a larger man in a hooded robe. His hand reaches for his knife but stops when she smiles brightly at him.

"Danos, he offered to pay for me to apprentice as a dyer!"

He grabbed her hand and stared at the strange man. He had a kind face, but cold eyes. "How many times have I told you not to speak with strangers?"

She wrinkled her nose at him. "He's not a stranger, he used to talk with mother!"

The stranger gave a gentle bow of the head. "I have been looking for the two of you ever since I learned of her death. Your mother wanted to ensure that the two of you were well cared for. I can buy you an apprenticeship as well."

"Why?"

"Your mother was a kind, gentle woman. I feel a certain duty to her children, and to orphans. I was orphaned myself at a very young age. Do you accept my offer?"

His sister responded before the man was finished speaking. "Yes!" Danos had to smile at Daena's fire. He was still wary of the stranger, but had nothing to lose. "What will I apprentice as?"

The man smiled. "As it so happens, I know a blacksmith who recently lost his apprentice. I am sure that he would willingly take on another."

"And what do you want from us in return?"

"Not much, only whispers that you may hear while plying your trades. Meet me here on the morrow and I will take you to your new homes."

True to his word, the man returned the next day and took them to the shops where they would apprentice. The dyers Rainbow Street was only a few streets away from the Street of Steel. They both worked from morning to evening, but would sneak a few precious hours together before returning to their master's homes to sleep. They were working when the Princess left and riots killed hundreds of people.

Occasionally the man would visit. He would ask if they heard any interesting tales, and they would tell him everything they knew. He had given them homes and protected their lives, a few strangers secrets were a cheap repayment.

The most interesting thing to tell him was of a song the children were singing in the streets. It was not particularly well worded, but it was written in the slums of King's Landing, not by a bard.

_The Kings make war_

_The children cry_

_By and by_

_By and by_

_Winter is coming around the bend_

_Will the war be at an end?_

_They took of the direwolf's head_

_He killed the king in his bed_

_Revenge was promised_

_Blood to be paid_

_An angry child_

_An angry king_

_Started the war_

_Now this we sing_

_A lion's son upon the throne_

_More a lion than most_

_Led by a monster_

_Ugly and gross_

_Oh winter is coming_

_By and by_

_ All the children will starve_

_All the children will die_

_Will Stannis come and win the day_

_This we vow_

_This we pray_

_They'll burn the city to the ground_

_Ashes of children_

_All around_

It was hard to tell whose side the singer was on throughout the course of the song. Danos forbade his sister from singing it, and she agreed though sometimes he would catch her humming the melody. The stranger thanked them for telling him of the song and went on his way.

When Stannis Baratheon's army came to King's Landing Danos ran with his sister to the Dragonpit to hide. Countless children were already inside when they arrived. They could have stayed with their masters, but fear was spreading throughout the city and no one felt safe anywhere. In that pit though, the children felt safe. If the city fell the men would be killed and the women raped. No one would think to look in the Dragonpit. When everything calmed down, the children could return to the streets like before, alive.

Few of the children slept that night. Shouts could be heard ringing out across the city. Then the sky lit up a bright, sickly green color. Danos and Daena snuck out of the pit to see what was happening. Atop Rhaenys's Hill a small crowd was gathered, watching green fire light up the world beyond the walls of the Red Keep. They trembled in fear as they watched the wildfire burn.

In the morning cheers of victory rang out across the city. Soon after, the children began singing a new song.

_The stag wanted to trample_

_The city into dust_

_But the lions arose_

_The lions arose_

_And saved the day_

_The lions and roses_

_Saved the day_


End file.
